The old man was very nervous when he was found to have stomach cancer during his physical examination. They prepared several questions early and wrote them down on a note, wanting me to answer them one by one. In fact, these questions are often asked in our clinical work, so I think it is necessary to answer them here. 1.Why do I have stomach cancer and is stomach cancer contagious or hereditary? Stomach cancer is formed by genetic mutation caused by a combination of factors such as environment, diet, stress and emotion. Cancer-causing genes cannot enter the body through contact or diet to induce tumor. Unlike infectious diseases, there is a definite bacteria or virus as the source of infection to spread. Some studies have shown that even if stomach cancer cells are transplanted into normal animals, they are quickly recognized and killed by the immune cells in the body. Therefore, gastric cancer is not contagious. As for heredity, only about 5% of gastric cancer patients are caused by family inheritance, and they usually have mutation of CDH1 gene. If there are multiple gastric cancer patients in the immediate family and the mutation of CDH1 gene is detected, there is a 70% or more chance of developing gastric cancer in a lifetime and preventive total gastrectomy should be done. In terms of hereditary gastric cancer screening, it is done earlier in Europe and America than in Asian countries. If there are three or more gastric cancer patients in the second generation of the immediate family, I should be tested for CDH1 gene mutation after the age of 18. 2. Which method is better, Chinese medicine, surgery, chemotherapy, etc.? If the examination reveals that there is no distant metastasis of gastric cancer, you should hurry up and have surgery. Because surgery is the only method that can cure stomach cancer and the only method that may return you to the normal life before cancer. If liver, lung or pelvic metastases are present, systemic chemotherapy is usually considered first. For most people, palliative chemotherapy with loss of surgery can extend life for several months, but generally cannot cure stomach cancer. Other treatments, including herbal medicine, simply complement surgery or chemotherapy to reduce side effects. To date, there is no formal published study that proves that stomach cancer can be cured by drugs alone without surgery. Nowadays, many newspapers, websites and other media as well as around many hospitals are filled with many false examples of curing stomach cancer with special drugs, which should not be believed. Some of the stomach cancer patients we have treated have come back to us after suffering from the disease, and some have even been delayed and spent all their savings. We are very sad and helpless about this. 3.Is the surgery very risky? Is it very difficult after surgery? How long can I live after surgery? Stomach cancer surgery is very mature. In a specialized hospital like ours, the success rate of surgery is much higher than before because the largest number of gastric cancer patients in South China are concentrated. I have observed the gastric cancer surgeries performed by European, American, Japanese and Korean experts, and compared to them, the success rate of our surgeries now is not inferior at all. Of course, patients with gastric cancer can share their treatment experience with each other and encourage each other to strengthen their confidence in overcoming cancer, which is conducive to rapid recovery. As for the survival rate after surgery, it depends on the postoperative pathological stage. Early and middle stage patients are basically cured, and the possibility of recurrence and metastasis is very low; locally advanced patients vary greatly after surgery, some of them can achieve the early stage effect and survive for more than 5-10 years, while some of them may have recurrence or metastasis after surgery. This is mainly related to the thoroughness of the first surgery, the malignancy of the tumor cells and the patient’s own resistance, mentality and many other factors. 4. Do I have to do chemotherapy after surgery? Is it very hard and even deadly? For patients without distant metastasis, surgery is the most important treatment. The purpose of adjuvant chemotherapy is to kill cancer cells that cannot be seen by the naked eye during surgery and may remain in the blood, mainly for patients with middle and late stage gastric cancer. The patient’s own resistance also has an important killing effect on these cancer cells that may remain in small amounts. Therefore, chemotherapy should firstly be ensured to be safe and be administered within the limits of economic and physical conditions. It is worth mentioning that the side effects of chemotherapy drugs for gastric cancer are much less than other tumors, and chemotherapy reactions such as hair loss do not occur, and malignant vomiting is also less common. We also have some long-term surviving gastric cancer patients who have not undergone chemotherapy after surgery. 5.How long does it take for patients to be hospitalized when they come to your big hospital? How long does it take to be discharged from the hospital after surgery? At present, most of the gastric cancer patients who need surgical treatment can be hospitalized on the same day when they come to our hospital, so they do not have to wait in line for a bed. This is mainly because of the actual situation that patients are required to be hospitalized in order to be reimbursed by local medical insurance, and at the same time, the number of beds for gastric cancer in our hospital has increased compared with the previous one. After patients with gastric cancer come to our hospital for outpatient treatment, if they need surgery, most of them can be hospitalized on the same day, and if there is no bed available, they will be given an extra bed. Generally, patients can be operated within 1 week after admission, and can be discharged about 1 week after surgery. 6. Can I still eat like a normal person after surgery? The volume of food is reduced after gastric cancer surgery, whether partial or total gastrectomy is performed. Therefore, after you start eating, you will feel full every time you eat more, but if you eat less, you will not have enough nutrition. Therefore, the diet in the early postoperative period is based on small and frequent meals. Within half a month after the surgery, the main diet is semi-liquid thin rice, which is eaten 6-8 times a day; after that, the amount of food is gradually increased, while the number of times a day is reduced, and the transition from soft rice to normal diet is made. Most people can return to the preoperative level of 3 meals per day and normal diet after 2-3 months of surgery. Total gastrectomy patients are no exception and can similarly return to a normal diet in a similar time frame. In addition, during the period of six months to one year after surgery, most patients will lose weight due to the adaptation period of dietary nutrient absorption, which is a normal situation and should not be worried. However, as long as the diet is reasonably arranged, the weight can be restored soon after six months to one year. This is because the body’s digestive and absorption functions have gradually adapted to the new structure. Moreover, as long as there is no obvious discomfort, the diet should be balanced and nutritious, and there are no special contraindications. This is different from the traditional Chinese medical concept.